Back in July, Environmental Media Assn. CEO Debbie Levin scheduled a catch-up dinner with NSYNC singer Lance Bass at Matu in Beverly Hills. Her 41-year-old daughter, Alexx, who came of age at the height of boy band mania, insisted on tagging along. But this didn’t bother Levin in the slightest, for they all knew each other quite well.
Since 2009, Bass has been very active in the nonprofit, which is dedicated to promoting environmental progress in the entertainment industry. He sits on the org’s board alongside his husband, Michael Turchin, and this year he signed on to be the executive producer of its 35th Annual EMA Awards Gala on Oct. 11 at the Radford Studio Center in Studio City. The event is billed as one that “unites environmental leaders and changemakers in entertainment to honor sustainable achievements across the lens and beyond the script.”
As the trio dined and sipped their martinis, it was agreed that with all the darkness and division in the country and around the world, this year’s EMA Awards should embrace pop culture and focus on fun. But soon, as it so often does, the conversation turned to reality television. This was fun for Bass and Alexx. It was not fun for Levin.
“I’m like, ‘You guys, you’re leaving me out of the conversation. I don’t like [reality TV]. I don’t know it,’” recalls Levin.
Bass mentioned that he’s good friends with Ariana Madix, host of “Love Island USA,” Peacock’s highly addictive hit dating competition show. Levin asked, “Who is that?” and they laughed at her. Madix and the show are huge! Even your granddaughters watch it! they said.
But what could’ve been another un-fun dinner moment for Levin quickly turned into a joyful epiphany: Madix should host this year’s EMA Awards. This would be very, very fun, everyone agreed.
Madix won’t be doing it alone. Joining her as co-host will be another unscripted TV star pal of Bass’ — Harry Jowsey, host of the hit podcast “Boyfriend Material” and focal point of the upcoming Netflix reality show “Let’s Marry Harry.” The event will also feature a performance by Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men and appearances by EMA board members Malin Akerman (“Hunting Wives”), Madelaine Petsch (“Riverdale”), Wendie Malick (“Young Sheldon”) and Emmanuelle Chriqui (“Entourage”), as well as Kathy Griffin, Selma Blair and Jenna Dewan (“The Rookie”).
“The thing about really going heavy on pop culture is that we are reaching a demographic that we don’t always reach when we’re too serious,” points out Levin.
Laura Dern on the green carpet at the 33rd Annual EMA Awards Gala at Sunset Las Palmas Studios in January 2024. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire)
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The event will also feature the EMA’s traditional green (as opposed to red) carpet, vegan dinner by Crossroads Kitchen and, of course, awards honoring everything from feature films (nominees include “Jurassic World: Rebirth” and “Wicked”) to variety series, as well as a new category for student films and a special award for the Los Angeles Fire Dept. Rainn Wilson will also be on hand to received the EMA’s Ongoing Commitment Award.
This year will mark the EMA Awards’ second year at Radford Studios, after previously being held at Sunset Las Palmas Studios and Warner Bros. Studios. The event landed there after Levin connected with Jeremy Hariton, exec VP and COO of the MBS Group, which operates Radford and other soundstage complexes around the globe. Levin says that Hariton was interested in getting all their properties involved in the EMA’s Green Seal certification program, recognizing studios and productions that adopt sustainable practices involving energy efficiency, waste management, transportation, catering, materials and carbon offsetting.
Levin says that while the Green Seal is ingrained in the domestic studio culture here, they don’t have the same structure on a global level, and productions “are very much looking for studio campuses who are already in the Green Seal so that they can come on and say, ‘OK, good. I don’t have to worry about this.’”
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